Insulating external alcove

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13 Feb 2016
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hi all,

Could someone give me advice on this? We live in a 1930s council block, which has some odd quirks. One of these is a set of small alcoves along the outside wall of the flat - one alcove per flat. Our theory is that they were for storing coal, but who knows. Anyway, I borrowed an infrared camera and it shows major heat leakage.

To insulate it, I'm thinking of buying some Xtratherm insulation and cutting it to size. My quick and dirty thought is to put that against the back of the alcove, then spray expanding foam all around it to hold it in. There are two concerns though.

First, what do we do with the front of the insulating board - just paint it white? It's pretty much protected from the rain by the overhang. The other problem is that the back of the alcove is very uneven, so it's likely there will be some air pockets behind the insulation. Is there a risk of this causing damp?

Any opinions or advice, or suggestions on how to do this better, very much appreciated!

[The alcove currently has some boxes of tiles being stored there)

 
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If you get air pockets behind the insulation, you'll get mold as opposed to damp, but this shouldn't be an issue. You can't use foil faced celotex as this won't take anything on it's face. I'm guessing here, but with the non foil faced stuff, you may be able to use a sand cement render on to it.
 

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